I Am A Legend – stars from the first 20 years of mountain biking

Myles Rockwell – is it just me who remembers the golden Moto forks from 1995?

Greg Herbold, I think, enough is said.

In the back row, Leigh Donovan and Kathy Sessler were drinking champagne and having a lot of fun.

Ok, I know this is pathetic, but this has been a dream for me for a very long time. He was on the cover of the very first mountain biking magazine I have ever bought and I have been admiring him ever since. He is 55 years old but he’s still lean and mean. It was a great to meet him finally, let alone seeing him racing with these guys.

Hubert Pallhuber

Kathy Sessler’s superchic, though probably not SPD compatible shoes.

Filip Meirhaeghe had been quite disappointed that he hadn’t been invited to the race, so when the news arrived this morning that the organizers would like him to join the race too, he was very happy about it.

Heroes of these days celebrate the heroes of past days.

The renowned mechanic, Monkey.

There were quite a few Canadian mountain biking stars as well.

Pre-race preaparations. The first two laps were just for display, proper racing was to start afterwards, lapped riders has to leave the race, the rider in the lead after 20 minutes wins the race.

An unusual peloton.

One of my favourite moments of the race: Thomas Frischknecht is properly “fed” by Jose Antonio Hermida Ramos.

Leigh Donovan completed her lap with her daughter.

Myles Rockwell put the hammer down right from the beginning and started to pull off from the rest of the field by the end of the second lap.

Leigh Donovan shows some skill.

Greg Herbold didn’t complete many laps, but he was cheered all the way through the race.

Cross country riding, Myles Rockwell-style.

Albert Iten

Multiple Olympic and World Champion, Paola Pezzo.

Yours truly and the might Greg Herbold and his truly amazing bike.

Myles Rockwell tries to make the already sizeable gap between him and his pursuers even bigger.

A chase group I will never forget: Ned Overend, Thomas Frischknecht, Brian Lopes and Filip Meirhaeghe.

With one lap to go, Lopes decided to distance himself from the rest of the field and broke away from the chase group.

Though it turned out to be proper, serious racing, they all had a lot of fun.

Stylish end to an amazing race, by Myles Rockwell.

Brian Lopes finished second…

… with Thomas Frischknecht at third.

This was another hilarious moment: two doping-control chaperons turned up after the race, just like in case of a real race. There was a twist, however: they were handing out beers and they were Greg Minnaar and Steve Peat.

“Next race in 2020?”

Brian Lopes explains how he managed to get rid of the rest of the riders in the group.

Leigh Donovan and her adorable daughter.

Another memento of this crazy night.

A true legend.

UCI head honcho, Peter Van Der Abeele and Brian Lopes.

Monkey and Frischi.

It was an truly dazzling night and the fact that you probably won’t see these guys riding together anytime soon, made it a whole lot more special. I know that am very, very lucky to be there and will remember this race forever.